In Spite of All The Damage
by xJubes
Summary: Sophia's finally found and the group takes on someone new. / Little vignettes that pick up after "Chupacabra". Although this is Daryl-centric, there are mentions of all the other characters.
1. Reunions & Laughter

R E U N I O N

Daryl's only gotten out of bed when he hears the low purr of what he knows is a motorcycle engine. It wasn't the low, sweet rumbling like that of the Harley he had claimed, but more of a high pitched, frantic whir. A "crotch rocket" (as they were dubbed) he was sure. With a wince he maneuvered as carefully as possible to pull on his shirt, grateful for Carol having taken it upon herself to wash it for him while he had been laid up in bed.

"Carol!" That was Glenn's giddy little giggle that followed the call from the front yard. "Carol! Come out here!"

There was the sudden rush of movement in the hall; pounding footsteps on wood, the desperate rush of a mother trying to do as she was asked. Daryl moved as quickly as his body allowed him to for fear of pulling his three day old stitches, but his heart was pounding at a million miles per hour as he moved into the hall towards the front door.

"What's going on?" Lori asked with wide eyes as she came up behind him, one of her hands finding the small of his back in an effort to help steady him as he worked on doing up the buttons of his shirt.

"I don't know," he said with a slight shake of his head although in his heart he knew what it was. They all did.

"Sophia!"

Daryl stepped out onto the porch in time to watch Carol sprint across the front lawn with such speed he was sure she had flown.

"Oh, my God," Lori gasped, and he felt as her hand left him in favor of covering her mouth. From the corner of his eye Daryl saw Rick wrap his arms around her, a smile of too many emotions (awe, relief, comfort) was pulling at the edges of his mouth.

"Look at that."

After a moment everyone descended the porch steps to join Carol and Sophia- who was battered, but looked well despite how long she had been gone. Carol was all but unable to suppress her tears of joy (which were a welcome change).

"You found her," Carol sobbed while hugging Glenn tightly and kissing him on the cheek before moving to bestow the same treatment on T-Dog, who pulled away sheepishly at the kiss to nod just over her shoulder.

"You should thank _her_."

All eyes shifted to the stranger still sitting atop the now silent motorcycle- a Suzuki Hayabusa, Daryl noted- and in the silence that settled they all watched as said stranger worked on removing her helmet after closing the visor. Leather encased thumbs curled under the helmet's edges, pushing upwards gently at an angle, and Daryl found himself blinking rapidly as long waves of thick chocolate brown cascaded and tumbled towards the earth before coming to a stop well past the middle of her back.

Carol neared the woman slowly, all the while keeping her hands firmly on Sophia's shoulders as if to keep her from disappearing from her sight every again. Noticing that she was still seated, the young woman gracefully dismounted the bike and set her helmet aside in time for Carol to come to a stop just before her.

"Thank you so much-" Carol sniffled with a trembling lower lip.

"Megan, mommy. Her name is Megan." Sophia looked up at her mother with a smile. In return the brunette cast a mock stern look at Sophia very much the same way an older sibling would before looking to Carol with a warm curl of her lips.

"I'm Megan," she chuckled quietly at the secondhand introduction while extending her right hand. The sound was cut short as Carol bypassed the offered hand completely and threw her arms around the young woman instead in a tight hug full of gratitude and relief. With her arms trapped at her sides, Megan's eyes bounced around the faces of the group still gathered around watching.

"Carol," Lori laughed and stepped forward to pull the two women apart gently. "You're going to scare her off before we've had the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves."

As introductions _were_ made Megan went about shaking all hands held out to her, Daryl's included. The leather gloves she still wore, and her jacket, were worn and much too hot for the rising temperature. Rick spoke up once the group had either gone inside with Carol so as to allow Hershel the opportunity of looking Sophia over, or to finish up what chores they had started before the reunion had taken place. Daryl opted to stay on the porch as he wouldn't be much help in either case.

"We can't begin to thank you enough," Rick sighed with a shake of his head, smile kind. "How did you come to find her? We've scoured every inch of these woods."

"On a fluke," she admitted as she stepped up onto the porch with a sigh of her own thanks to the shade. She pulled the straps of her backpack down her arms, the once brightly patterned material now dingy and faded from too many hours in the sun. "There's this old farmhouse out in the woods. I found her hiding in the pantry after I had done my rounds to make sure the place was clear so I could crash for the night."

Rick and Daryl exchanged a look in silence, Daryl's eyebrow shooting up sharply as if to say, _"Told you so."_

Megan continued, all the while beginning to remove her gloves. "Sophia told me about what happened on the highway and how she ended up in the woods. I knew that there was no way in hell you guys would quit looking for her." She tucked the gloves into the back pocket of her jeans, both men watching as she then began to unzip her jacket, working diligently in removing it from the equation with another sigh as the kind breeze moving along the porch cooled her skin now that she was down to her tank top. "I decided that we would make the trek together, and we would have made it back to the highway sooner- but we had to keep rerouting due to the ones wandering the woods."

"True," Daryl chimed in quietly, looking from Megan to Rick and back again. "There haven't been very many thankfully, but they're annoying as all hell."

Megan nodded with a smirk that bordered on a smile. "Had it been only me I could have handled my own, but there was no way I was going to risk it with Sophia. We eventually made it back to the highway, found the car, and I made sure she ate. It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes before your boys showed up."

"Did she mention she had a gun pointed at us?" Glenn interjected as he appeared at the front door. Daryl scoffed a laugh while Rick cast a surprised look at the woman.

She shrugged one shoulder with a chuckle before bending down to retrieve her bag from its place at her feet and pulling her gloves from her pocket, opting instead to stuff them into one of the bag's own side pockets. "Sue me for being careful."

Glenn pushed away from the door jamb and motioned inside the house with a nod of his head and a lopsided smile. "Carol's asking for you."

Megan nodded and draped her jacket over her arm before excusing herself from the trio, all three men watching now as she disappeared inside the house. Glenn gave the other two men a knowing look once he was sure she was out of earshot.

"I know, I know... She's HOT."

L A U G H T E R

The high of Sophia being found lingers for days after her return. And only after the young girl and Carl are cleared to travel does Rick tell the crew that they need to start packing up shop just as he promised Hershel they would. Everyone concedes and scatters to start getting their things in order despite Maggie's consoling that there was no real rush for them to leave.

Daryl's busy gathering his own few things from the bedroom he had been given since the day he had come stumbling out of the woods delirious and rabid from the words driven under his skin by the phantom that was his missing brother. He was damn glad to at least be rid of the gauze halo he had going on. The stitches were another story.

The soft knocking at the door prompted him to look over his shoulder, followed by his body turning to do the same.

"Hey," he greeted quietly. With brows drawn down tight over his eyes in his confusion as to why she was there he waited, hands half attempting to fold/roll his newly laundered things (thanks again to Carol).

"Hey," Megan echoed with a smile as she leaned against the door, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. "Word on the street is that the Harley belongs to you. It's leaking, and since I know you're still out of commission I thought I could fix it for you. Not too sure if you're one of those anal types that doesn't like people touching their things."

"I don't," he confirmed. His eyes dropped down to the shirt in his hands briefly in thought before coming back up to fix on her. "But I'd appreciate the help."

Megan's thankful that the day is overcast with the way she's sweating as she works on fixing the leak on Daryl's motorcycle. And he's watching with this shrewd, hawk-eyed expression as he tracks the movements of her hands. In no way does she take offense to his silent scrutinizing; on the contrary, she welcomes his help when he takes it upon himself to point something out that she had missed.

"I hadn't realized just how much tunin' up she needed," he murmured while rooting through the toolbox in his lap. After another few seconds he finally tossed the wrench he had been searching for underhand to the brunette.

"Good thing I offered then, huh?" Megan flashed a bright smile and a cheeky bounce of her brows at him.

"Where you from originally?" He asked after a thoughtful moment of silence of watching her work; taking note of the way the sun that appeared from time to time played off her hair in shimmering flashes of deep bronze and gold.

Dropping the wrench at her feet, Megan leaned back to inspect her work while slowly wiping grease from her hands on a rag that was dirtier than her own hands were. "Jersey," she said before leaning forward to run her fingers over something that had caught her attention. "Newark, to be exact."

Daryl's eyes popped open. "Shit. What the hell you doin' all the way down here?"

"Visiting." Hazel eyes met steely blue as she looked over at him with a chuckle before looking away. He knew better than to push.

"How you likin' your stay? Enjoyin' the scenery?" Daryl felt his lips quirk as Megan did her best to hide her smile.

"The scenery is lovely. Gorgeous, really," she agreed while turning to him on the crate she was seated on, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "The locals are top notch, too. A bit persistent, and they're not too keen on personal space, but I like them."

A beat passed before Daryl dissolved into laughter; one hand shielding his eyes as the other held his injured side.


	2. Uncharacterstic Happiness & Warmth

******A/N:** _Just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to those of you that have either added this story to their favorites or to your alerts. I honestly wasn't too sure how it was going to be received since there are so many other great stories out there, but I can't begin to explain just how excited I am that everyone's enjoyed the first two vignettes! Please feel free to leave me a review, I would love to know what you guys think. _

_With that said- I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and here are the next two vignettes!_

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><p><strong>A R E Y O U L O N E S O M E T O N I G H T<strong>

It's after dinner and everyone's mood is ten times lighter. Even Hershel allowed himself to laugh at a joke Rick tells as all the plates were being cleared away. Daryl slipped away onto the porch unnoticed and he's only settled himself down into one of the chairs when Carol appears, making every muscle tense up in his surprise.

"Jesus H. Christ, woman," he sighed heavily as he relaxed. "You're lucky I ain't got my bo- What?"

There's something about the way that Carol smiled silently in that tender, motherly way- and that she knew something she wasn't telling. Still smiling, she moved forward to gently ruffle his hair before bending at the waist and kissing the top of his head (and this time he didn't pull away like a wounded pup).

"It's a nice change to see you happy," she murmured quietly as she straightened up, her hand dropping to rest against his shoulder.

In response all Daryl could do was give her a tight lipped smile in return, honestly unsure of what to say. He felt that she was hinting at something more but there was nothing that immediately came to mind. Well, not really. As Carol disappeared inside the house with one last squeeze to his shoulder he was left alone to contemplate her comment.

Moments later he was joined by Shane and Rick, who were then followed by Dale, Maggie, and Glenn. Megan appeared minutes later hand in hand with Sophia, Carol and Lori just behind them.

Conversations carried on around him without any of his input, all the voices meshing together and traveling in one ear and right back out through the other. He was watching Megan's fingers card through Sophia's hair in an effort to eliminate the tangles there and then carefully parting it all into workable sections. With great care she guided the young girl's head to rest against her thigh and then began to braid.

He'd never been one for technology- aside from the necessary evils- but at that moment he wished he had a camera as he watched Megan smile down at Sophia.

"You're going to stay with me, right?" Sophia asked. "You promised you would."

"Of course, baby girl," Megan soothed. "I'm here now and I have no intention of going anywhere."

"But what about tomorrow? And the day after?"

"Sophia!" Carol scolded lightly, making Megan and those around them laugh quietly.

"Let's get through tonight and tomorrow we'll talk. Sound good?" Megan finished the braid by tying Sophia's hair. "All done. Go show your mom."

As Sophia popped up to do as she was told, Daryl chose that moment to move towards the brunette. Slowly he eased himself down beside her on the porch step with the aid of the railing, shooting Megan a look that caused her to throw her hands up in surrender when she had made the attempt to help him sit down.

"You're really good with her," he said quietly after he'd settled down next to her, eyes staring straight ahead.

Megan chuckled and gave one of her signature half shrugs. "Natural talent. I'm a jack of all trades."

"That right?" This time Daryl looked over at her, his eyes tracing the outline of her profile.

"Mm hmm," she hummed with a small smile as she cast a look at him from the corner of her eye.

"You know," came the gentle lull of Rick's voice as he came up behind them. Both Megan and Daryl looked over as the man crouched down beside them at Megan's unoccupied side. "You're more than welcome to travel with us if you'd like."

Megan looked down at her hands, teeth worrying her bottom lip in contemplation. "I'd like that."

"Good," Rick laughed quietly while placing a gently hand on her shoulder. "Between us- it was a unanimous decision with Sophia and Carl leading the pack."

Daryl decided that he would have to find a way to bottle the sound of Megan's laughter because he'd never been that close to something so beautiful.

"Good to know I can count on them."

"Along with the rest of us," Rick promised resolutely with one final squeeze of her shoulder. As Rick took his leave Daryl watched him go before turning back to Megan who was now looking at him.

"You're keeping me around just so that I can fix your bike, aren't you?" She asked while resting her head in the palm of her hand.

"Gotta make you useful," he chuckled, glancing at her briefly before looking away. He felt like a damn schoolgirl.

It took him- along with everyone else- a moment to realize that the low murmur that had begun to hum from within the house was Elvis Presley's low croon escaping speakers. As all eyes turned towards the door, Hershel appeared with the kindest smile any of them had ever seen since their abrupt arrival.

"I figured a little music couldn't hurt."

Although all were stunned by the gesture it didn't stop Rick from standing and pulling Lori up with him after a little prompting. As they began to sway Dale stood and held his hand out to Carol who was hesitant at first but accepted after a deep breath and a nervous glance around.

"Think I could bother you for a dance, pretty lady?" Shane ambled over with an outstretched hand to Megan.

"Only if you promise not to step on my toes." She eyed him in mock suspicion and took his hand as he laughed, smiling to Daryl as she stood. He smiled back on principal as he watched her go, pulled along into the front yard.

That night after everyone had settled down to sleep he imagined he had been the one to ask Megan to dance under the moon and the stars, and that when she had smiled and laughed it had been with him and not Shane.

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><p><strong>W A R M T H<strong>

Andrea's on another one of her Amazon/"Xena: Warrior Princess" tirades when she lashes out at Megan. Megan, who had only stepped in to help diffuse the situation by offering to help Dale load something into the RV- which had been the only request the man had made in the past three days- that had sparked Andrea's rage.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are?" Andrea seethed. Everyone in the immediate area froze.

"Excuse me?" Megan asked nonchalantly as she emerged from the RV. Shielding her eyes against the rays of the noonday sun she hopped down from the last step to face Andrea head on.

Shane appeared, eyes wide. "Andrea-"

"No," Megan cut him off and stepped forward, using the hand that had been over her eyes to stop him from getting any closer. "Let her finish."

Undaunted, Andrea grew closer. "We don't know anything about you! Just because you show up with Sophia doesn't mean you're wanted here. It doesn't mean we're going to be your instant best friends."

At the escalation of Andrea's voice Daryl righted himself from where he had crouched down next to his bike in securing his things, brow furrowed against the sun and his confusion.

The brunette quirked a brow. "What's the real problem here, Andrea? If you're so curious to know about me you could always ask. But wait, to do that it would require you to be around for more than two minutes at a time."

"What the hell is goin' on?" Daryl asked Shane once he was close enough.

"Andrea's off her rocker," the other man answered with a frown. Daryl cast a sidelong glance at him.

"Ain't we all?"

"You're a leech," Andrea proclaimed as she lifted a hand to point an accusatory finger. "Latching on to anything you can because _you_ have nothing left."

"Andrea, that's enough!" Dale demanded in his shock.

"Oh? Is it because I'm too bright and chipper for you, Andrea? Because I choose to be happy? To laugh?" Megan asked calmly. "Do me a favor and get over yourself."

Andrea's hand dropped back to her side as she narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry, did I miss the memo where we're all supposed to pretend that the dead aren't walking and that we haven't lost people we love? Do you even know what that's like, Megan? No, I'm pretty sure you don't." The blonde was red in the face, her anger coming off of her in waves.

Megan gasped as if in surprise at being found out.

"Oh, my God, please forgive me for being so insensitive to you and everyone else. I hadn't realized you weren't a happy, fun bunch!" She clapped her hands together in front of her with a faux cheerful smile that quickly faded into a dangerous deadpanned expression. "You don't know shit about me, Andrea, but I suggest you try pulling your head out of your ass- the fresh air would do you good."

Megan turned to leave only for Andrea to latch a hand around her wrist to prevent her from going any further. Shane stepped forward immediately, as did Dale and Daryl, but again Megan held up a hand to stop them. With her wrist still in Andrea's grip Megan slowly turned to stand toe to toe with her.

"I know that despite the hair color you're a smart cookie, so I'll humor you," Megan said lowly. "I've lost a few of my own and you know this." At Andrea's disbelieving scoff and accompanying smirk Megan dropped her gaze to where the blonde's fingers were still holding onto her tightly. Slowly she lifted her eyes back up, tongue wetting her lips as she nodded. "Right... because I don't know loss. I guess that having to put bullets through the heads of my six and seven year old nieces doesn't count."

There was a collective gasp amongst the group that had gathered throughout the exchange. As Andrea's grip loosened Megan took the opportunity to pull her hand away.

"I refuse to mourn them any more than I already have. Do you want to know why?" Megan waited, Andrea's silence loud now. "Because then I'd be just like you." All watched as Megan turned and walked away, head bowed low, and a stunned Andrea in her wake.

Daryl approached her a little later, careful not to startle her as he ran his thumbnail over the tent's open zipper in an effort to gain her attention and announce his arrival. "You ok?"

He watched as she wiped at the edges of her eyes while nodding silently, save for the occasional sniffle. Carefully he moved inside to take a seat beside her as he had grown accustomed to doing since she had arrived.

"I should have handled that better," she said quietly without looking at him.

"Truth?" He asked just as quietly; the question prompting the brunette to look over at him after tucking her hair behind her ears. He noted just how much more prominent the green of her hazel eyes had become.

"Truth," she confirmed with a nod as she sat up a little straighter.

"She's been needin' to hear that she's not the only one who's lost somebody, despite it feelin' that way," he admitted softly. "There's no need for you to go apologizin'. I see it written all over your face."

Megan chuckled and looked down at her hands, lips pursed in an effort not to smile. As silence settled between them Daryl ducked his head and leaned towards her to sneak a peek at her face and found that she was a million miles away.

"I wonder how many times we've all walked right past one another without realizing it," she murmured thoughtfully after a moment, eyelashes fluttering as she came back to herself and looked over at him. "My brother moved down here six years ago for this 'big promotion'," she accentuated the words with the use of her hands in a grand manner. "Of course that meant that I had to make plans to visit every chance I got if I wanted to see my girls."

"What were their names?" For a moment he regretted asking as she studied him. Her eyes flickering here and there over his face as she did so before smiling, the warm gesture quickly easing the regret that had flared.

"Karina and Lola." Megan's smile lost its radiance as it turned sad. Raising up on her knees she leaned forward to grab at her backpack, setting it in her lap as she sat back and began to rifle through it. "We used to have this tradition," she confessed in soft tone that made Daryl's heart _ache_. "That the morning after I would get in we'd pride ourselves with demolishing the kitchen in making breakfast. I'm talking about eggshells all over the counters, pancake mix all over our clothes, our faces... Don't even get me started on the chocolate chips."

Daryl then found himself looking at a photograph of Megan and two young girls with long waves of brown hair just like hers, and these larger-than-life smiles that were covered with chocolate (along with a missing front tooth or two). In the background he could see the complete disaster Megan had referred to.

"Looks like a hell of a good time," he chuckled. His thumb gently caressed the faces of the young girls in the photo, the same treatment then passed on to Megan's beaming face staring back at him within the snapshot. He returned the photo as carefully as he had taken it from her. "They were beautiful."

Megan wiped at her eyes one last time and pulled a deep breath into her lungs as she straightened up once again, letting her head drop back as she exhaled in an effort to finally shelve the emotions that had sprung loose. Daryl's blue eyes traveled up the column of her throat as dark hair shifted and fell back over her shoulders, his mind reeling at the thought of wanting to stroke at the hollow between her collarbones. Despite appearances he _did_ have manners and knew it was rude to stare... but he couldn't stop/help himself.

It was damn near impossible, really.

When she looked at him again after tucking the photo away safely it was to find him with a thoughtful look on his face accompanied by a wry smile.

"What's with that look?" Curious, she turned to face him.

"Just thinkin'... about what you said. How many times we all must've walked right past one another without noticin'." Daryl smirked and cast a sidelong glance at her and then down at his hands, noting the way the grime beneath his nails now looked a hell of a lot worse since the world went to hell. "I was never really one for the city, you know? We made runs for some odd reason or another... but I don't know."

Daryl felt the weight of her gaze on him rather than saw it given how interesting he found his nails. But when he did finally look up with was to find her studying him again.

"What don't you know? C'mon, spit it out," she pressed with a laugh, her hand gently nudging at his thigh in prompt for him to continue. Daryl shook his head.

"It's nothin'. Forget it."

Megan gaped, eyes widening. "Oh, hell no. You are not-"

Rick's timing couldn't have been better as he appeared to let them know that they were going back out to the highway for one last search of the vehicles for anything that may be useful and to siphon off a bit more gas if possible. As the man disappeared from sight the duo exited the tent in a silence Megan wasn't standing for.

She caught Daryl by the wrist with a smirk. "This conversation isn't over."

Feeling bold he leaned forward with a little wink. "I'll never tell."

Megan licked her bottom lip, stifling her smile the best she could. "Ok. Then make sure you finish packing up your stuff."

"Wait, what-" Daryl turned as she began to make her way after Rick and the rest of the crew that was set to go back to the highway.

"You're still on the bench with that injury," she explained while turning smoothly on a booted heel to face him as she continued her trek, albeit backwards. "You're no good to anyone yet. Make yourself useful, huh?"

Merle would have lost his mind had he been around to hear a woman speak to a Dixon in such a manner, but all Daryl could do was laugh as she turned and headed off.

It felt good to laugh.


	3. Insanity & Safekeeping

**A/N: **_I actually started writing these right after my last update. I hoped to have them up before the new episode tonight, but alas, it did not work out the way I'd hoped. Please, let us not speak of the multiple levels of heartbreak I endured with said new episode. I don't want to talk about it. Hold me?_

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><p><strong>I N S A N I T Y<strong>

"This is fuckin' crazy!" Shane yelled over his shoulder. "You're insane!"

"We don't have any other choice, Shane!" Megan called back as she began to disentangle herself from her bag, her gun following suit.

"The hell we don't!" He called back, cursing under his breath as he leveled his eye to the scope of his rifle to take a brief count of those that were beginning to grow too close for comfort. "They need to hurry the hell up, we're runnin' out of time. Rick! Let's go!"

Caution thrown to the wind Shane slammed his hand against the double doors at his back that Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl had gone through thirty or so minutes earlier in search of supplies. Glenn was doing his best to remain calm against the onslaught of panic that was creeping up spine, the increasing fear rendering him speechless.

"W-w-wait," he gasped once he had found his voice again as Megan handed her things over to him for safekeeping. "Why are you giving me your things?"

"The extra weight is only going to slow me down," she explained just as the doors burst open and the rest of the group emerged from the building.

T-Dog panted as he hiked the strap of his duffle over his shoulder, eyes widening slowly as Rick and Daryl took a quick assessment of the situation.

"Now that's everyone's present," Megan chuckled dryly as she worked on tying her hair up into a bun. "Here's the plan- I'm going to draw these guys away long enough for you guys to make it back to the truck. We don't have time to argue about this and I doubt anyone here, besides myself, ran track all four years of high school- being a cop doesn't count, old man."

Shane threw a nasty look over his shoulder at her jibe and Rick looked downright sick at the idea of her being live bait, but there was honestly nothing better he could think of. Daryl was quick to catch her by the arm before she could take off, his eyes speaking volumes of how _bad_ of an idea this was.

"Have a little faith in me, yeah?" She patted his face gently with wink. "Count to ten, then go."

All four men watched as she jogged away, stopping only briefly to pick up a discarded pipe, and with a deep breath she disappeared. It was amazing how time seemed agonizingly slow when it didn't need to be and as they all stood around like idiots they heard the shuffling of lumbering feet begin to turn away, following the sound of breaking glass as Megan went to town breaking any and all surfaces in an effort to draw their attention.

_...six...seven...eight...nine...ten._

They all took off at a dead run towards the truck, quickly putting down the stragglers that were much too slow to keep up with the rest of the crowd due to some reason or another. One caught a boot to the face as Daryl climbed onto the bed of the truck with a growl, his hand pounding against the roof of the cab as the engine flared to life in a signal to go.

"Let's go get her," Rick ordered, jaw tight as he looked over at Shane who only nodded in his determination to get to the girl before she could run out of steam.

T-Dog hung out of the window as Shane sped down the street, smacking those within easy reach with his bat while Glenn did the same from his side with a crowbar. Daryl's sharp eyes were bouncing along every dead face that they sped past along the outside of the crowd, his heart thudding harder with every stretch they drove that he didn't see her.

"There she is!" T-Dog exclaimed, motioning frantically with the bat in his hand. Sure enough, they all caught sight of her rounding a corner.

"Hold on!" Shane called out as he shifted and slammed on the gas to take the sharp turn, Daryl cursing as he held on to keep from being thrown off.

She was a sight. For all that she had tried to make herself as safe as possible with tying up her hair it was now flying out behind her as her feet pounded hard against asphalt. Power surged through her with every step, the strain and the concentration it took to stay aware of her surroundings causing the muscles in her arms to stand out in sharp contrast against creamy, sun kissed skin.

"Daryl, get ready to grab her!" Rick commanded as Shane veered the truck out in front of her and let his foot off the gas long enough to allow her to close the distance between them without coming to a complete stop.

There was no time wasted as Daryl dropped the tailgate and crouched down, one hand outstretched as the other gripped the side of the truck for support. They only had one shot at this and if they blew it, caused Megan to stumble and lose her momentum, there would be no coming back from that.

"C'mon!" He heard himself yell although he hadn't feel his lips move. "Reach!"

Now given the opportunity to see the utter concentration on her face up close he felt a surge of _something_ as she pushed herself harder and all it took was a look. The minute their hands touched he held onto her for all that he was worth, pulling her up onto the bed of the truck as he used the momentum of his body falling back like a dead weight to clear her past the edge of the tailgate.

"He got her!" T-Dog whooped as he dropped back into his seat and Shane hit the gas.

They were a heap of limbs. Megan's eyes were closed as she gulped in deep lungfuls of air, her hand still gripping Daryl's own as they lay side by side, her heart hammering in her chest and her pulse loud in her ears.

"Don't you ever fuckin' do somethin' like that again," he growled, looking over at her as he squeezed her fingers against his palm.

"Can't... make any... promises..." she panted breathlessly, rubbing the pad of her thumb over the back of his hand.

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><p><strong>K E E P E R <strong>

"Might I ask a question?"

"Of course," Megan smiled as she looked over to see Dale making his way towards her, thermos in hand. As Megan had offered for the first watch of the night the older man had volunteered as well to keep her company.

"What's your story? I'm guessing you get your grease monkey skills from your father?"

Megan nodded. "Yeah. Um... I really didn't know my mom. My dad was never one for sugar coating anything, so as soon as I was old enough to understand what it meant he told me that she had been an addict. Got clean before she found out she was pregnant with my brother, but something happened that she just couldn't kick the habit. I came along three years later."

Dale's eyes widened. "Your mother continued to use even while she was pregnant with you?"

"Oh yeah," Megan confirmed. "I was lucky I wasn't born an addict. She took off after six months and my dad raised me the best he could. Which meant I knew all the basic parts that made up an engine by the age of five and was a total tomboy. You couldn't get me to wear a dress to save my life."

"I'm sure your father was ecstatic about that; not having to worry about you running around after boys," Dale mused as he poured her some coffee.

"Not exactly," she admitted after accepting the proffered cup. "Let's say I traded chasing after boys for being chased by the cops."

"My God in Heaven," Dale proclaimed, smacking a hand to his forehead as he stared at her. "What in the world..."

"I wanted to be one of the boys!" She quickly defended. Dale eyed her.

"How'd that work out for you?"

"If you look over the times I got jumped-"

"You got jumped?"

Megan choked on her sip of coffee and had to turn away to cover her mouth as she swallowed to keep from having it come out of her nose as her laughter rattled tightly in her chest. Only after she ran the back of her hand across her mouth did she turn around, a sheepish look on her face.

"I never said I was innocent, Dale."

"Next you're going to tell me you mugged people and beat them up for no reason!"

"There was always a reason."

"I can't- I can't deal with this conversation. My heart can't take it." Dale placed a hand on his chest dramatically and leaned back into his chair.

"I grew out of it," Megan smirked. "I graduated from high school with honors. Though I don't know who was prouder- my dad or my parole officer..." As Dale snorted into his cup she reached out to rest her hand against his shoulder, laughing. "Kidding, I'm kidding. I _did_ graduate with honors and I worked at the garage until I was nineteen. From there I took all the money I'd saved up and took a road trip."

"By yourself?" Dale questioned in his ever-growing surprise.

"By myself," she confirmed.

"Think an old man could bother you for a recommendation?" Dale smiled warmly, though it was just a touch wry. Megan pursed her lips in thought, eyes searching the twinkling stars in the night sky as if for an answer.

That image was what Daryl walked up on as he approached the RV with the intention of relieving one of the two currently seated on the roof. With the bow slung across his back he stopped to stare up at her very much the same way a child would yearn for something they really wanted in a store window with stars in their eyes.

"If you'd like to actually _see_ fall," she said after a moment in considering the approaching change of the season. "I'd suggest Vermont. The leaves turn all these beautiful, _vivid_ colors. I used to think it was such a crock of shit when you watched commercials where people jump into piles of leaves... but you can actually do that there."

The awe in her voice caused Dale to erupt into laughter, followed by Megan doing the same. Daryl hated the fact that he had to go and ruin the moment by losing his footing, causing him to bang a hand against one of the ladder's rungs as he reached out to quickly regain his balance. Gritting his teeth, he looked up in time to see Megan peeking over the side of the RV at him. Dale appeared next to her with this questioning expression that Daryl would've been more than happy to knock right off his face.

"Forget how to climb a ladder, son?"

Daryl bit back the obscenity he really wanted to say in favor of scoff and a shake of his instead. "One of you need to take a hike," he announced gruffly, glaring at the space the older man had been in only a second before.

"I'll stay," he heard Dale say. "I insist, Megan. Go get some rest."

Daryl stepped aside as Megan climbed down the ladder a short time later, her gun tucked into the back of her jeans. She waved goodnight to Dale and then turned to rest a hand against his shoulder, shaking him gently as if to tell him to lighten up.

"Try not to kill him," she said knowingly. "I'll see you in a couple of hours."

Megan had only made it halfway across the camp when she made an about face and marched right back towards him. Hell, he hadn't even made it up one rung of the ladder when he found her standing in front of him again.

He eyed her from head to toe. "You forget somethin'?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "There's something I was hoping you'd hold onto for me."

Confused, he nodded slowly. "...alright."

The word had only faded into the night air when she rose up to kiss him. It was nothing more than a lingering press of her soft, plush lips against his, but he could taste the faint trace of the coffee she had shared with Dale and that which made her _her._

True, the kiss was tame at best- no tongue or any groping included- but it was the single most perfect thing to ever take place. There was no alcohol involved, no drugs, no pumping adrenaline. It was exhilarating because it was something that had come from Megan personally, just because she wanted to.

"Think you could take care of that for me?" Megan whispered softly as she pulled away to give him back the space she had taken and invaded. "Turns out I'm a lot more attached to it than I originally thought."

Daryl exhaled slowly and opened his eyes, watching her back up. "I think I could do that for you." He could _definitely_ do that.

As Megan headed back to camp all he could do was watch after her, mind fighting to catch up.

"I guess we won't be talking much tonight, hm?" Dale chirped from above him.


End file.
